Century-old fruit market

It is very likely that you will not notice the existence of Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market even if you pass by Yau Ma Tei. For the market is bustling with activity only from midnight. It is not a retail market, as you can image. It is a wholesale market with lots of trading and transportation activity going on when the city sleeps.

Having been designated as a heritage place, the market enters its centennial year this year. It has long been Hong Kong’s major fruit trading place and its peak time fell in the 1980s and 1990s when the market was thriving with more than 330 stores. Now the number has dwindled to about 230 facing stiff competition from mainland China as well as supermarkets.

It is a typical scene that hourly workers, shirtless, transport cartoons of fruit across the area. It is said the market is embodiment of Hong Kong’s can-do spirit, as you have a sense here that people diligently do menial jobs and rigorous trading just to make a living.

During the day time, while the place is largely quiet, a few stores are open and sell fruit in bulk. I was told that these buildings are the oldest in the whole market dating back 100 years.

How to get there:
Take Exit B2 of Yau Ma Tei MTR Station; Walk along Waterloo Street toward the direction of Potland Street. Turn left at Reclamation Street. Continue along the Reclamation Street and the market is at your right hand side.